Thunder forward Kevin Durant has come second in the draft and MVP votings, but nobody in the NBA can touch him nowadays when it comes to pitching products - whether it's shoes, video games or soft drinks. He leads our Commercials Rankings and No. 2 (Kobe Bryant) is not even close.

John Amaechi: I am tired of people having this debate about the relative impact of pejorative words on their target minority group. If injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then the relative power of an antigay gay slur is irrelevant, it is simply a threat to human dignity, and that should appall us all. I don’t think Kobe Bryant is some vicious homophobe, but I do think he made a mistake and has sounded more like a squirming politician than a national hero since the incident came to light. When you know that people hang on your every word, you should take more responsibility when the wrong words spill out in anger. When you understand that people treat you like a god, you should endeavor to be more benevolent when you exceed expectations and more contrite when you let people down. New York Times

Manchester basketball legend John Amaechi has come under fire from Great Britain captain Drew Sullivan. He has hit back after former NBA star Amaechi criticised the British Basketball program just three weeks before FIBA make a decision on whether the team can play at the 2012 London Olympics. Amaechi, whose days as an England international predated the forming of the GB programme, spoke out last week, saying: “I think the organisers of Team GB are absurdly poor. We have a team that had an average age of something about 35 when most of the teams at the Olympics have an average age of 25. “The way we are developing basketball in this team is wrong ... but they deserve to be at the Olympics.” Manchester Evening News